This past Monday the 2013 Legislative Session began. Some extremely important issues have already hit the front pages for debate. Governor Branstad gave his Condition of the State address on Tuesday, and school reform appears to be one of the topics at the top of list. The proposals for school reform are included in HSB 4 which is scheduled to be discussed by the House Education Sub-Committee Tuesday, January 22 at 5:00 p.m. I encourage everyone to go to the Department of Education website and read Building World-Class Schools for Iowa: A Legislative Brief. Here are just a few highlights from his plan:

1. Teacher leadership compensation system and raising beginning teacher pay to $35,0002. Teach Iowa Initiative to encourage and reimburse students to enter the teaching profession and teach in Iowa3. Teacher-Administration evaluations, include student outcome measures4. Expand Iowa Learning on Line5. Creation of a two-tiered high school diploma system.

One very important issue that needs to be monitored, especially for the small rural Iowa schools is the issue of Allowable Growth. Allowable Growth is the amount by which the state cost per pupil and district cost per pupil will increase from one budget year to the next. Each year the amount is increased by a dollar amount which is the product of the allowable growth rate set by the legislature times the state cost per pupil from the prior budget year. As I write this article we are beginning to prepare forour 2013-2014 Budget. In the Governor’s address he stated that, “I believe that we should resolve the issue of what we are collectively willing to invest in achievement-driven reform before we spend one minute discussing additional resources to support our existing educational system.” With this statement he plans on delaying any decisions on Allowable Growth until his reform package is resolved. In my interpretation his proposal shows a zero percent Allowable Growth for the next two school years. We understand school reform is a major issue for Iowa, but Allowable Growth is the bread and butter for local districts to utilize local control of where those funds are best utilized in our district. For the IKM-Manning CSD a 0% Allowable Growth is a decrease of $85,407; a 2% Allowable Growth is a decrease of $40,355; and a 4% Allowable Growth shows an increase of $49,778. The plan for a 0% Allowable Growth would have a negative impact on our school and teachers.

I encourage all to contact our local state government officials and voice your opinion for a positive Allowable Growth and to address this issue before any education reform proposals are addressed.

I would like to encourage all to get out and support our high school basketball teams as they enter the Western Valley Conference Basketball Tournament this week. They both enter with the top seed in thesouthern division.

Congratulations to the 12 groups of 67 students that advances on to the state speech contest. Great job!

The IKM-Manning Middle School students and staff would like to welcome everyone back to school for the Spring semester. The only change in the middle school courses during the second semester will be the addition of Industrial Technology for eighth grade students. Industrial Technology class is an exploratory course taught by Mr. Tom Casey. The students enjoy having 6 weeks to learn and build a project using wood products. Mr. Casey does an excellent job teaching students the responsibility of how to use the shop tools safely and work together to complete their individual projects.

Be aware driver’s education classes begin Tuesday, January 8 th. Again, Mr. Casey will be teaching course and students will be coming to the Manilla building bright and early three mornings a week for the core curriculum coursework. Students and Mr. Casey will soon be out driving the city streets and county roads. Let’s hope our young people learn to be excellent drivers.

Thanks to the middle school student council for their awesome efforts in collecting Pennies for Present during the holiday season. This year the middle school studentswere able to collect a total of $1,880.00 thanks to the contributions of community members, $1,402 from students and staff at the middle school, $322 Irwin building, and $145 from the Manning building. The contributions were distributed as gift cards to 28 residents at the Terrace Apartments in Manning, thirty-four students from all three communities, four elderly homes in Irwin and 8 elderly homes in Manilla. We appreciate everyone’s donation in bringing a little sunshine and happiness into other community member’s lives.

7th GradeIn Life Science students just finished looking at cells with a microscope. They comparedand contrasted onion cells with their own cheek cells. We are now looking at atoms andelements to understand how our body dissociates these elements when we eat only to putthem back together in a form we can effectively use. We will look at the difference betweencarbohydrates, lipids and proteins and explain how each type benefits and can harm our body.We will examine how eating an unhealthy diet can lead to major health issues by watching themovie “Supersize Me”.7th grade students will look at cell division and discuss what happens when a celldevelops cancer. We will watch movies dealing with the effects of cancerous cells and seewhat happens with mouth and throat cancer. In the laboratory students will remove their ownDNA and look at it, find the blood type of a person, explore how materials move across thecell membrane, discover how contagious diseases spread and determine the origin, look at theirgenetic characteristics and predict the characteristics of their children. Later in the semesterstudents will dissect and examine many different animals in the laboratory.The second semester for 7th grade students moves very quickly as we spend a lot oftime in the lab applying the skills we have learned in the classroom. If your child is struggling,encourage them to ask questions. You can track what is happening in our classroom by checkingout my website at http://jimblankman.weebly.com/. There are many useful links, powerpoints,and extra study materials to help your child be successful in science.

8th Earth Science

Earth Science students have been looking at categories of motivators, things that motivatepeople to choose sides of an issue. We started looking at these motivators by reading a Dr.Seuss book called “The Lorax”. The Lorax is a good book to show multiple motivators and is afun read for the students. Since reading Dr. Seuss, the information students have been readinghas been progressively increasing in difficulty. They have read; about river pollution on theeast coast, how playing video games can kill you, and about school lunches. Throughout thesemester we will delve into environmental issues that can be controversial. We will read anddiscuss these issues trying to understand both sides of the issue by focusing on what motivatorsled these people to choose their side of the issue. We will look at the issues associated withtiling farmland including, flooding, groundwater depletion, hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico,we will study the environmental issues associated with climate change, alternative energy andrenewable resources.Currently we are studying rivers and groundwater. They will determine what watershedthey live in and determine if a raindrop at their house travels to the Missouri River or theMississippi River. Students will look at how Iowa has changed over the past 150 years especiallywestern Iowa. We will learn how groundwater moves and what happens when a well goes dry.We will try to understand the issues associated with the Ogallala aquifer in Nebraska and whythe Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean.Every day one 8th grade student researches and presents the day’s weather in our morningannouncements. This has become an extra credit item. If your student wants extra credit,encourage them to forecast the weather on our local YouTube channel.This semester 8th grade students will be tested over 100 prefixes and suffixes they willencounter throughout the remainder of their educational careers. We are encouraging students to

dissect words into parts to understand their meaning. Every Friday students take a 10 word quizonline at Edmodo. You can track your child’s progress with a parent access code, ask your childfor the code.You may also have noticed your child carrying less books home from school. The 8thgrade science class has been relatively paperless since the beginning of November. We willcontinue to utilize our Google accounts for doing and turning in our class assignments. This hascut down on late work as the students receive their homework online, make a copy of thedocument in their account, and then immediately share that document back with me. With thisapplication I can track their progress and maintain a dialogue online as they do their homework.Any questions they have are only a click away from being answered, whether they are at home,or in study hall. We will try to remain as paperless as possible throughout the remainder of theyear.Check out my website at http://jimblankman.weebly.com/ to keep up to date oneverything happening with your child in earth science this year. On my website you will find atentative schedule for the remainder of the year, you will also find information on the homework,powerpoints presented in class, and additional information to help your child have success inclass.